Another One Gone...

Luke has been anxiously awaiting the day when his loose tooth would finally fall out and today was the day! He has wiggled and twisted that thing to no end and it finally paid off!

It just so happens to be right next to the other missing space he has on top, so now there is a pretty large gap there. 

This year in Mrs. Judge's class she has a  log book for all of the lost teeth for the class. Luke wants to be able to take the tooth tomorrow to show the class and log it in the book. Only, one problem on his mind for today...will the tooth fairy take it tonight? What if she does and he can't show his class first and log it in the book? Oh My!

I really hope she reads the note he put on top of the baggy.

 "Please don't take this"

Happy Birthday Mrs. Judge

Yesterday we celebrated Mrs. Judge's birthday with the class by enjoying some cupcakes!!! 

The class also surprised her by bringing her birthday cards they had made for her and an Italian Cream Cake (that's her favorite) to take home to share with her family. I think they were all SO EXCITED! They love her so much.

Happy Birthday Mrs. Judge! 

We hope you had a great day and we appreciate everything you do for the class.

A Change in Seasons

Fall is one of my favorite times of year. I love it because there is so much to look forward to! 

Our fall decorations have been out for a few weeks, but I have fought back the urge to make fall crafts until today. It was early release at Luke's school so I decided to plan something fun for the kids when he got home. Pinterest is loaded with cool crafts for kids and this is one I have liked for a while, but was waiting for the perfect time. 

It's nothing hard or complicated and doesn't take much time. I know it will be something I will always cherish because it has my kids fingerprints on it.

Luke and Brady started first while Owen was taking a nap, then Owen finished a few more branches when he woke up. I hope my boys never outgrow crafts.... A few little comments from Luke had me realizing he might be getting closer to that point though :(

Here's how our fall tree turned out. I can't wait to frame it and put it front and center on our mantle.

It has been a while since I got some posed pictures of the kids, so I took the opportunity to do that too! I guess I was on a roll today or something.

This is the Luke I know :) No fake smile this time. That is exactly what I see when he smiles. I love him so very much :)

This is a cute Brady smile too, the pose before this was a silly face, so that's why his little hands are so close to his mouth. Crazy boy! (notice, we are still in the jersey phase)

Last, but not least is my sweet little precious Owen. He was on the big boy swing today like a pro. Lately he has really started to fill out and get taller. He can also hold conversations now. Way too big :(

I also made our traditional batch of pumpkin rolls. We can't have fall around here without them. As I was making them I was thinking "I hope my kids remember things like this about being at home when they get bigger. You know? Maybe they will even say, 'When we were little our mom always made us pumpkin rolls in the fall'" That's just one of the many crazy thoughts I have from time to time. 

Anyway... when Luke saw that I was making these, he said "we always have these every fall, don't we mom?" Made my whole day. It's the little things.

Happy Fall!

Last Week...

We had our first little cool front of the season last Monday so Brady, Owen, & I went to the park. The park is one of our favorite places when the weather gets better. 

Brady looks like he's not having fun, but he was!

Owen loves picnics in the park as you can see!

School Spirit Day at In His Steps Preschool was also last week. The kids get to have a ChickFilA lunch at school when it's spirit day, so that's always something to be excited about. Not to mention that they all get to wear their school shirts!

 
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Traditional picture in front of the playground. This is a must for every important day at school. (I have noticed I am very much a creature of habit/tradition)

On Wednesday night the boys got to start their new Awana year! Brady even gets to go this time!!!

We found a new church that allows kids who are 4 to come! Again, Brady looks like he didn't have fun, but he really did. he was pumped to finally be able to do something with his big brother. Luke is still in Sparks and Brady is in Cubbies. We love Awanas! The kids have learned so much about the Bible from Awanas as well as Kids Church at Crosspoint.

Pearland Oiler Black

Last Friday night was Youth Football Night at the Pearland home game. Since Luke is playing flag football this season, his team was invited along with the other youth teams to run out onto the field with the Oilers before the game. Luke was extremely excited! 

Him, Caleb, & Uncle Samuel are somewhere in that huge blob of people surrounding the Oilers for their pregame huttle. Let's go Oilers!!!!

Luke got his yard sign, so it is proudly displayed in our front yard :)

I may mentioned this before, but I am sure you noticed that Luke picked to be #10. He was also #10 last year in soccer. There is a reason for that...

Baylor had this really awesome quarterback for the past few years and he was #10. Robert Griffin III even won the Heisman trophy last year! Luke loves him and thinks he's the coolest, so that's why he always chooses to be #10. I hope he always picks that number :)

Catching up...

The past few weeks have been super busy, so I have been slacking on my blog posts. Here is a very quick catch up.

Brady is in a new football phase. Not sure if it's motivated by Luke playing now or what, but it is pretty intense. He refuses to wear anything but a jersey wherever he goes. He has also come to the realization that the Mario Williams jersey he already has is no longer valid due to the fact that Mario no longer plays for the Texans. Therefore, he will not wear that one even for pretending unless I distract him while he is putting it on and he forgets to check the name on the back.

He is also still the fisherman of the family so when Papa invited him to go fishing a the church pond he was in pure HEAVEN. They even caught lots of fish! This bass was their biggest catch so they had to get a picture with it. Thank you Papa for making Brady's whole week! 

Sidenote: not only does Brady love to catch fish, but he also loves to eat them as well. I made fish for dinner tonight and he had 4 pieces- no joke.

On to Luke...

 

He's been playing flag football since the end of the summer, but his jerseys were delayed in shipping. He did get his jersey today and it's super cool! Love Love Love! It will be so much easier to spot him on the football field now with his jersey! Yay!

I was cleaning out Luke's backpack tonight and found this note. Mrs. Judge has a mailbox set up for each student and encourages them to write notes and leave them in each other's mailbox. I think that's a bright idea on her part because it gets them to have fun while practicing their writing skills. Another reason why I love Mrs. Judge. Anyway...isn't that a cute note his friend Fisher wrote him? 

Last Friday night was Pearland High School's first home game! We try to attend as many home games as we can because we have so much fun at them. Brady and Owen chose to stay with Grammy and Papa for this game, so it was just us and Luke. Luke's team got to run out on the field at the beginning of the game because it was youth football night (more pics to follow). Shortly after the game started and began to rain and I was out of there (this momma loves football, but not in the rain). Apparently the Oilers aren't to fond of the rain either because they lost :( Hopefully next week will be better.

Sadly, I do not have any picture of Owen to post. I don't know what happened with that... Maybe its just that he is much harder to get picture of these days because he is busy busy (that was a lame excuse- I need to get better at that) Anyway, He is doing great and loving school. His newest thing is watching Dora the Explorer (I know, I know-that's a girl show, but come on he's 2 it's not like he's carrying a purse or anything) and practicing making animal sounds- he is getting really good at that. I think that's partly why he likes Dora because there are a lot of animals on her show. 

So, now I am officially somewhat caught up with my blog posts!

It's Official!!!

Today I had my 18 week appointment with the doctor. I had an appointment at 12 weeks and they told me then that they were pretty sure our new baby was a boy. At the appointment today, they confirmed it :)

We are pretty sure that our new baby will be named Griffin Wilson Allen. Caleb & the other boys LOVE the name Griffin and no matter what-  we are going to have the middle name as Wilson after Papa. So, that's how that is looking for the moment.

I hope the above picture isn't to personal for our little Griffin, but that pretty much says it all!

Caleb was able to go to my last appointment with me which initially told us he was a boy so since he just started his new job I told him it was totally fine for him to not take off today and go with me again. I did bring Luke with me though :) He has been so into our new baby lately that I thought he could really learn a lot from getting to see him on an ultrasound. It went great! He watched and listened the whole time and even had a few questions of his own. I hope he never forgets and I don't think he will.

As far as us having another boy- I really & truly could not be happier. At this point in life, I have come to realize that God does truly know best for me and our family. So, if he chooses to give us another boy- there must be a good reason. Not to mention the fact that my other three boys are nothing short of amazing in my sight. There is not a day that goes by that I don't think about how lucky I am. They are everything I ever hoped for in little boys. I think they are pretty fond of me too :) Plus, Caleb is THE PERFECT boy dad hands down. He loves playing with them and teaching them. I don't just say that either- he really does. So adding one more little cutie to my mix is pure joy.

Needless to say we had a pretty cool day today getting to see Griffin again and finding out that he looks healthy up to this point. Thank you God for blessing our family.

Luke's First Football Game

Last Saturday, September 8, 2012 was Luke's first football game! He had been so excited about this day and it finally came. The coolest part was that they got to play in "The Rig" where the real Pearland Oilers play! I don't think it gets any better than that for a 6 year old who loves Pearland football.

 

Yep! They even had their own run-thru!

Luke had his own little fan club at the game. Grammy, Papa, Papi, Yaya, Sam & Steph, KK, and of course Mom & Luke and Brady. Daddy was on the field coaching.

Warming up!

As a mom of boys, one of the many things I have always looked forward to is wearing my boy's jersey with their number on the back. Well, my dream finally came true! I had "Allen 10" on the back of my jersey which made me so very proud.

Brady, Brady, Brady. He breaks my heart. He wants to play SOOOOO bad and I know it's so hard to come and watch Luke get to play and get all of the attention. We have set a rule though that the boys can't start playing sports until they are 5...otherwise we would be going even more crazy with all of their sports schedules than we already will be. It's tough right now, but his day will come very soon. Until then, I am trying to work with him at home when Luke is gone and build up his self esteem.

Luke's team rocked it! They won 25-0!!!

I was so proud of my boy! He got a touchdown, safety and an extra point. As well as playing mean defense. He stopped a very fast runner from getting a touchdown. What a game!

Victory snack after the game!

Their jerseys were delayed coming in, that's why he is in a plain black shirt...

My favorite coach with my favorite QB. Love these two!

Luke even had a special guest come to watch him play! His sweet friend Emily who was in his class last year came! She was cheering him on and so excited to get a picture with him. It was really sweet.

Quick family picture before we went home to get that stinky boy a shower!

Way to go Oiler Black!

First Baylor Game 2012

This year we renewed our Baylor season tickets and last Sunday was the first game of the season. 

Baylor vs. SMU

We drove to Waco with Luke & Brady. Owen stayed home with Grammy & Papa (a few more years and he can go too). The boys always love to go to see their Baylor Bears! Luke is a die hard Baylor football fan. He knows the players names, positions, good plays they've made, etc... he is fun to be around- I learn some good football knowledge from him. He is just like his daddy.

Brady loves football in small doses. He loves to tailgate, he loves the beginning of the game, he then gets a little antsy, then we get up for halftime, then he's back in the game for a bit, then back to being antsy until the end of the game. I think that will get better with age. Anyway- he loves his Bears.

Caleb & me!

This trip we got to spend some time with our friends The Wilsons. I have talked about them before- they were our very first married friends when we moved to Waco and truly a gift from God. We have stayed in touch with them over the years and always have a great time when we see them. They now have two kids who are Luke & Brady's age which makes things even more fun. 

We are looking forward to a great season of Baylor football! Sic' Em Bears!